Apparatus for making felt



April 28, 1953 F. H. LEE, JR 2,636,248

APPARATUS FOR MAKING FELT File d Feb. 1, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTORATTORNEYS April 28, 1953 F. H. LEE, JR

' APPARATUS FOR MAKING FELT '2 SHEETS SHEE T 2 Filed Feb. 1, 1950INVENTOR Frank Lee, Jr.

Patented Apr. 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- 2,636,248 7 APPARATUS FOR A ING-FELT" Frank H. Lee, Jr., Ridgefield,"Conn.

Application February 1, 1950, Serial No. 141,615

Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for felting fur, and moreparticularly to a machine wherein fur may be continuously fed throughfeeding mechanism and processing mechanism to continuously produce stripfelt.

One of the objects of this inventtion is to provide an apparatussuitable for receivinga continuous fiow of feltable fur fibers,initially processing such fibers for felting, and continuously flowingsuch fibers between processing apparatus for producing a strip of felt.Another object of this invention is to provide a machine wherein the furfibers are initially prepared for felting and subjected to variousstages designed to work the fibers in proportion to the ability of thefibers to withstand such work. A further object is to provide a machinewhich may receive fur wound in ribbon form as in a paper roll, and feedsuch ribbon of fur to the entry end of the machine for felt processing.A further object of this invention is to provide mechanism for relatingthe feeding action of the machineto the processing action with resultingsynchronization, to produce a superior product. Another object is toprovide a process for manufacturing strip felt continuously withoutfeeding interruption or changes during the felting operations. Otherobjects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in. the features of construction,combinations of elements, arrangements of parts and in the several stepsand relation and order of each of the same to one or more of the others,all as will be illustratively described herein, and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the variouspossible embodiments of this invention,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view showing the generalarrangement and relationship of apparatus used for my felting operationjin the final fiat felt body. The utilization of a' number of machines ina felting operation neces- 2 sarilyinvolve's a great deal of manuallabor, many skilled operators for the different machines, and the lossof considerable time in transferring the felt strip from machine tomachine. It is a further object of the present invention to provide asingle machine in which all of these feeding and felting operations maybe accomplished so that the fur may be fed into one end of the machineand the finished product taken from the other end of the machine.

Generally speaking, the machine comprises feeding mechanism, generallyindicated at H), as shown in Figure l, to direct the fur fibers to arotating forming drum, generally indicated at l2. The feltingapparatus'comprises'a bed, generally indicated at M, supporting banks ofrollers generally indicated at l6, l8 and 20. A spraying apparatus,generally indicated at 22, is employed to spray desired quantities ofhot water on the forming drum [2 and the banks of felting rolls l6, l8and 20. Dye may be used in the spraying water so that coloring andfelting take place simultaneously.

Thus the fur is fed upon the drum I2 in the presence of hot water, whereit is formed into a fragile mat of fur fibers corresponding in characterto a hat bat as it is stripped from the cone of a formingmachine duringhat manufacture. This mat is then fed to the right into the bank ofrollers 16 which. are designed to knead the fur fibers in the mat in thepresence of hot water, to simulate an action somewhat similar to thestarting process in hat manufacture. The mat so processed by the bank ofrollers 16 then passes to the bank of rollers 18, wherein more strenuouswork is performed thereon, because the felt strip has now becomestronger. The action of vthe bank I6 might be termed somewhat similar tothe hardening operation in hat manufacture. Finally, the fur strip isfed further to the right through the bank of rollers 20, where theactual felting process takes place. This bank of rollers 20 correspondsto an apparatus known in the hatting industry as a multi-roller, whereinthe rollers not only rotate but reciprocate, and the felt is subjectedto considerable pressure. Upon leaving the banks of rollers 20, the furstrip is in finished condition.

Although the stream of fur may be fed into the left-hand end of mymachine, as viewed in Figure 1, in any convenient manner, I prefer touse the following procedure: The fur is, of course, first carroted andprocessed by the usual blowing operations well-known in the art, andafter blowin is rolled in a ribbon or layer in a paper roll,

A pair of power driven feeder rolls 3!! and 32,-

horizontally mounted one above the' other sorrotation in bed 54, aredisposed adjacent "a similar.

roll 34, similarly mounted. Below roll 8! a roll 36 which may be powerdriven by any suitable means, in conjunction with a similar roll '38.Rolls 36 and 38 carry a feeding belt 48. A roll 42, preferably springt-ensioned in a downward direction, is mounted in any suitable manner onthe machine, and the paper strip 26 of the roll 24 is rie'd'over ro'll+2 and under-roll 42. .The strip 26 then goes to windingmechanismractingin :conjunction with the shaft support for the roll 2this apparatus acting to continuously rotate the roll to seed the ribbon"of fur between lfee'd rol-ls 3D and s2, and thence to the right betweenroll fl'and belt-fll.

Immediately in front, or to the of roll as and supporting belt All, is apair of power driven rolls 154 and 46, designed tofee'd the fur from thebelt to a picker 38, which is also driven in any suitable manner. Picker418 is oi: the usual construction, designed 1T0 rotate rapidly and pickup the for fibers in the ribbon of fur as it is fed through the feedfalls '44 and 36. shield 5'5 is disposed above the picker and is shapedto direct the far in an even stream over the entire adjacent surface ofthe formingorum, generally indicatedat 12-.

The forming-dram 1 2 isa iarge perforated drum mounted in the bed I4 ona horizontal axis, as shown, and adjacent the picker. It may be TO-tated at desired speed and its ends are closed,

eXcept fora connection to -a-'suction line 52. Thus, forming drum -2, asit rotates, is under heavy suction, provided by suitable fanningmechanism (not shown). As previously noted, the stream of fur issubjected to a spray of not water as the In order to be certain that theloose 'mat of 'fur leaves the r-bl nding roll 12 before entering thebank of rolls I6, I provide a stripping knife 5! disposed at such anangle and so shaped that as the iria t of approache the entrance to thatportion =of the machine containing thebank 1 6, all "sections thereofwill be loo'senel rrom the for mer roll to pass therefrom.

"The bank I 8 comprises rolls 5B, which -may be seen more clearly inFigure 2. These iol-ls 56 are provided with an irregular compositionsurface, such as rubber, pre'fer'ablycomprising'a pyramidal met, or thelike. The upper row of rolls 56 are spring pressed downwardly, and suchpressure be adjusted to suit the characteristics of the mat of fibersbeing fed therebetween. Thus, :as can be seen .in Figures 1 and 2, themat passes continuously to the right between the rollers 56, and issubjected to a gentle kneading action in the :presence of a continuousspray of hot water so that as it leaves the bank l-B, the mat has be- 4come stronger and more suitable for heavier working.

Next, the mat of fur passes into the bank of rolls; l8. Rolls 58 in thisbank [8 are similar to rolls 56 and are similarly mounted. However,rolls 58 are preferably smaller in diameter, and have largerirregularities or pyramidal shapes in their surfaces. The top row ofrolls 58 is springpre ssed downwardly at much greater pressure than is"the top row of rolls 36. (3on'se'qirently, as the "mat of forpassesthrough the bank l8, it is subjected to considerably more workthan in bank it, or a much harder kneading action. As the mat. :of furleaves the bank l8, it comprises a fairly strong, interlocked mass offibers, well able 1:0 withstand the rugged operations which must take.placein the multi-roller bank 29, where felting and shrinking occurs ata relatively high speed.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the bank 20 comprises rolls 68 whichare not only mounted for rotation horizontally and driven by suitablemeans, butare also rccnorocated along their axes by suitable mechanism,generally indicated at -52, and well known in the art. Rolls '56 are.pr'eferably smaller indiameter than rolls 58., andpreferablyhave asmooth rubber surface. The upper row *of rolls G8 is spring-presseddownwardly against the lower rolls at considerable pressure.

. Consequently, as the mat of :fur passes through bank 26, it shrunk andfelted and emerges at the right-hand end of the machine on the shelf[34. It should be understood that the number of rolls in banks :16, 1'8and .2 0 may vary, the number shown in the drawings being merelyillustratiye. In the usual operation the number of roiis in the imultiroller bank 20 would be larger than shown to allow Zfor more i-citingand Fshr-in'le ing as the matted Efib'ers pass 'therethrough.

It :may be desirable to manufacture the felt in a continuous strip, andwhen so done the ribbon of fur is fed continuously between the 'feedrolls 38 and 32, and emerges as a felt strip on the shelf $4 iirom whichit may be dropped into a box, or feed into drying apparatus. The rate ofmovement -of the paper strip as most graduall in cr'ease as the diameterof roll 24 decreases-and this maybe done in any suitable manner, for areample, with the mechanism described for this purpose Patent No.2,357,474. The rate of iced of feed :belt "40 adjusted to the speed ofrotation of the picker 48 and the forming drum 1 2,170 the end that aneven distribution of ifelt on the drum, as it rotates, provided. On theother hand,

42 must rbe rotated :at Pa speed commensurate with the 'ability of thebanks 16., :18 and!!! to perform their functions as described above.This may be accomplished by suitable control mechanism so that there isa definite interrelation 'between the several parts of the machin'e i top'er ates toproduce the 'continuo'us felt strip.

Under some circumstances, it may :be desirable to manufacture the stripsin certain desired lengths, and to do so I provide a knife mechanism,

, generally indicatedat fid, which may be operated to sever lengths ofthe matted ifnr at certain in-- towels and, of course, this may be doneautomatically or manually.

It will thus be seen that the several object-s herein'above referred tohave been successfully accomplished in an iemcient manner.

.As many possible embodiments .may be made of the mechanical features ofthe above invention, and as the art herein described might be varied invariousparts, all withoutdepartirg from the scope of the invention, itis to be understood that all matter hereinabove set forth, or shown inthe accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In felting apparatus, in combination, a perforated drum mounted forhorizontal rotation, means for applying suction on said drum, means fordirecting a steady stream of feltable fur fibers on said drum, means forspraying hot water on the fibers on said drum as it rotates, a pluralityof rollers arranged in two horizontal rows one above the other adjacentsaid drum so that the fibers may be fed therebetvveen from said drum, apair of banks of smaller rollers adjacent said first-mentioned rollersto receive the matted fibers therefrom, and means for longitudinallyreciprocating said last-mentioned rollers.

2. In felting apparatus, in combination, a perforated drum mounted forhorizontal rotation, means for applying suction on said drum, means fordirecting a steady stream of feltable fur fibers on said drum, means forspraying hot water on the fibers on said drum as it rotates, a pluralityof rollers arranged in two horizontal banks one above the other adjacentsaid drum so that the fibers may be fed therebetween from said drum, apair of rows of smaller rollers adjacent said first-mentioned rollers toreceive the matted fibers therefrom, and means for longitudinallyreciprocating said last-mentioned rollers, said first-mentioned set ofrollers having irregular pyramidal surfaces.

3. In felting apparatus, the combination of a perforated drum mountedfor rotation around a horizontal axis, means for directing fur fibersonto said drum, means for applying suction to said drum, a series ofbanks of rollers having irregular surfaces and arranged to receive acontinuous mat of fur from said drum, means for rotating said rollers,and a bank of rollers adjacent said first-mentioned rollers and mountedfor rotation and longitudinal reciprocation, said last-mentioned bankbeing disposed to receive the mat of fibers from said first-mentionedrollers.

4. In felting apparatus, the combination of a perforated suction drummounted for rotation around a horizontal axis, means for feeding furfibers onto said drum, a first bank of rollers disposed in rows oneabove the other adjacent said tudinal reciprocation in rows one abovethe other.

5. In felting apparatus, the combination of a perforated suction drummounted for rotation around a, horizontal axis, means for feeding furfibers onto said drum, a first bank of rollers disposed in rows oneabove the other adjacent said drum to receive the mat of fur fibers fromsaid drum, a second bank of rollers arranged in rows one above the otherto receive the mat of fur fibers from said first-mentioned bank, a thirdbank of rollers arranged to receive the mat of fur fibers from saidsecond bank, said third bank of rollers being arranged for rotation andlongitudinal reciprocation in rows one above the other, and sprayingapparatus for spraying hot Water on said drum and said banks.

FRANK H. LEE, JR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Re. 22,090 Powell May 5, 1942 810,898 Archer Jan. 30, 19061,460,519 Wadsworth July 3, 1923 1,679,100 Sturgis July 31, 19281,716,401 Wheeler June 11, 1929 2,083,383 Kennedy June 8, 1937 2,169,372Pecker Aug. 15, 1939 2,357,474 Kane Sept. 5, 1944 2,441,390 BoeddinghausMay 11, 1948

